In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

During my my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an express bus. The vehicle was always jammed and was consistently standing room only once I got on.

On one specific day, I was feeling terribly ill while the vehicle lurched around the bends. I kept telling myself to hold on for a few more stops before the bus got to where I needed to get off, so I could then make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to be sick.

As we neared the road leading to my stop and I realised I was unable to last. All of a sudden, it seemed a fog descended upon me. The world became white and really quiet; similar to when one turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver of the bus, so I managed a couple of steps toward the driver and asked the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I was going to vomit. The driver opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

I was resolved to not get sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and started trying to make my way across to the park opposite the street, where I thought I’d at least be able to find some privacy among some shrubs to vomit. However I apparently blacked out. I sensed my physical self, yet I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started dragging myself toward my intended destination.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, I was lifted up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I told this unknown man that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me over to a nearby building and put me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I said no.

After a short while, I regained my composure enough to sit down and from outside the stall I heard him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to get up just then but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period recovered the use of my limbs. I got myself home passing the next few days recovering from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never saw the stranger’s face – only his legs along with a sizable steelwork tools container he was carrying – yet he rescued me, when I was in my weakest state.

Often this world can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that emotional callousness. He demonstrated that our default setting leans toward compassion, something I love in other people.